War Message of President Polk, May 11, 1846

Message of President Polk, May 11, 1846

Washington, May 11, 1846

To the Senate and House of Representatives:

The existing state of the relations between the United States and Mexico renders it
proper that I should bring the subject to the consideration of Congress. In my message at
the commencement of your present session the state of these relations; the causes which
led to the suspension of diplomatic intercourse between the two countries in March, 1845,
and the long-continued and unredressed wrongs and injuries committed by the Mexican
Government on citizens of the United States in their persons and property were briefly set
forth.

As the facts and opinions which were then laid before you were care fully considered, I
can not better express my present convictions of the condition of affairs up to that time
than by referring you to that communication.

The strong desire to establish peace with Mexico on liberal and honorable terms, and
the readiness of this Government to regulate and adjust our boundary and other causes of
difference with that power on such fair and equitable principles as would lead to
permanent relations of the most friendly nature, induced me in September last to seek the
reopening of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Every measure adopted on our
part had for its object the furtherance of these desired results. In communicating to
Congress a succinct statement of the injuries which we had suffered from Mexico, and which
have been accumulating during a period of more than twenty years, every expression that
could tend to inflame the people of Mexico or defeat or delay a pacific result was
carefully avoided. An envoy of the United States repaired to Mexico with full powers to
adjust every existing difference. But though present on the Mexican soil by agreement
between the two Governments, invested with full powers, and bearing evidence of the most
friendly dispositions, his mission has been unavailing. The Mexican Government not only
refused to receive him or listen to his propositions, but after a long-continued series of
menaces have at last invaded our territory and shed the blood of our fellow-citizens on
our own soil.

It now becomes my duty to state more in detail the origin, progress, and failure of
that mission. In pursuance of the instructions given in September last, an inquiry was
made on the 13th of October, 1845, in the most friendly terms, through our consul in
Mexico, of the minister for foreign affairs, whether the Mexican Government would receive
an envoy from the United States intrusted with full powers to adjust all the questions in
dispute between the two Governments, with the assurance that should the answer be in the
affirmative such an envoy would be immediately dispatched to Mexico. The Mexican minister
on the 15th of October gave an affirmative answer to this inquiry, requesting at the same
time that our naval force at Vera Cruz might be withdrawn, lest its continued presence
might assume the appearance of menace and coercion pending the negotiations. This force
was immediately withdrawn. On the 10th of November, 1845, Mr. John Slidell, of Louisiana,
was commissioned by me as envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the United
States to Mexico, and was intrusted with full powers to adjust both the questions of the
Texas boundary and of indemnification to our citizens. The redress of the wrongs of our
citizens naturally and inseparably blended itself with the question of boundary. The
settlement of the one question in any correct view of the subject involves that of the
other. I could not for a moment entertain the idea that the claims of our much-injured and
long-suffering citizens, many of which had existed for more than twenty years, should be
postponed or separated from the settlement of the boundary question.

Mr. Slidell arrived at Vera Cruz on the 30th of November, and was courteously received
by the authorities of that city. But the Government of General Herrera was then tottering
to its. fall. The revolutionary party had seized upon the Texas question to effect or
hasten its overthrow. Its determination to restore friendly relations with the United
States, and to receive our minister to negotiate for the settlement of this question, was
violently assailed, and was made the great theme of denunciation against it. The
Government of General Herrera, there is good reason to believe, was sincerely desirous to
receive our minister; but it yielded to the storm raised by its enemies, and on the 21st
of December refused to accredit Mr. Slidell upon the most frivolous pretexts. These are so
fully and ably exposed in the note of Mr. Slidell of the 24th of December last to the
Mexican minister of foreign relations, herewith transmitted, that I deem it unnecessary to
enter into further detail on this portion of the subject.

Five days after the date of Mr. Slidell's note General Herrera yielded the Government
to General Paredes without a struggle, and on the 30th of December resigned the
Presidency. This revolution was accomplished solely by the army, the people having taken
little part in the contest; and thus the supreme power in Mexico passed into the hands of
a military leader.

Determined to leave no effort untried to effect an amicable adjustment with Mexico, I
directed Mr. Slidell to present his credentials to the Government of General Paredes and
ask to be officially received by him. There would have been less ground for taking this
step had General Paredes come into power by a regular constitutional succession. In that
event his administration would have been considered but a mere constitutional continuance
of the Government of General Herrera, and the refusal of the latter to receive our
minister would have been deemed conclusive unless an intimation had been given by General
Paredes of his desire to reverse the decision of his predecessor. But the Government of
General Paredes owes its existence to a military revolution, by which the subsisting
constitutional authorities had been subverted. The form of government was entirely
changed, as well as all the high functionaries by whom it was administered.

Under these circumstances, Mr. Slidell, in obedience to my direction, addressed a note
to the Mexican minister of foreign relations, under date of the 1st of March last, asking
to be received by that Government in the diplomatic character to which he had been
appointed. This minister in his reply, under date of the 12th of March, reiterated the
arguments of his predecessor, and in terms that may be considered as giving just grounds
of offense to the Government and people of the United States denied the application of Mr.
Slidell. Nothing therefore remained for our envoy but to demand his passports and return
to his own country.

Thus the Government of Mexico, though solemnly pledged by official acts in October last
to receive and accredit an American envoy, violated their plighted faith and refused the
offer of a peaceful adjustment of our difficulties. Not only was the offer rejected, but
the indignity of its rejection was enhanced by the manifest breach of faith in refusing to
admit the envoy who came because they had bound themselves to receive him. Nor can it be
said that the offer was fruitless from the want of opportunity of discussing it; our envoy
was present on their own soil. Nor can it be ascribed to a want of sufficient powers; our
envoy had full powers to adjust every question of difference. Nor was there room for
complaint that our propositions for settlement were unreasonable; permission was not even
given our envoy to make any proposition whatever. Nor can it be objected that we, on our
part, would not listen to any reasonable terms of their suggestion; the Mexican Government
refused all negotiation, and have made no proposition of any kind.

In my message at the commencement of the present session I informed you that upon the
earnest appeal both of the Congress and convention of Texas I had ordered an efficient
military force to take a position between the Nueces and the Del Norte. This had become
necessary to meet a threatened invasion of Texas by the Mexican forces, for which
extensive military preparations had been made. The invasion was threatened solely because
Texas had determined, in accordance with a solemn resolution of the Congress of the United
States, to annex herself to our Union, and under these circumstances it was plainly our
duty to extend our protection over her citizens and soil.

This force was concentrated at Corpus Christi, and remained there until after I had
received such information from Mexico as rendered it probable, if not certain, that the
Mexican Government would refuse to receive our envoy.

Meantime Texas, by the final action of our Congress, had become an integral part of our
Union. The Congress of Texas, by its act of December 19, 1836, had declared the Rio del
Norte to be the boundary of that Republic. Its jurisdiction had been extended and
exercised beyond the Nueces. The country between that river and the Del Norte had been
represented in the Congress and in the convention of Texas, had thus taken part in the act
of annexation itself, and is now included within one of our Congressional districts. Our
own Congress had, moreover, with great unanimity, by the act approved December 31, 1845,
recognized the country beyond the Nueces as a part of our territory by including it within
our own revenue system, and a revenue officer to reside within that district has been
appointed by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. It became, therefore, of
urgent necessity to provide for the defense of that portion of our country. Accordingly,
on the 13th of January last instructions were issued to the general in command of these
troops to occupy the left bank of the Del Norte. This river, which is the southwestern
boundary of the State of Texas, is an exposed frontier.

From this quarter invasion was threatened; upon it and in its immediate vicinity, in
the judgment of high military experience, are the proper stations for the protecting
forces of the Government. In addition to this important consideration, several others
occurred to induce this movement. Among these are the facilities afforded by the ports at
Brazos Santiago and the mouth of the Del Norte for the reception of supplies by sea, the
stronger and more healthful military positions, the convenience for obtaining a ready and
a more abundant supply of provisions, water, fuel, and forage, and the advantages which
are afforded by the Del Norte in forwarding supplies to such posts as may be established
in the interior and upon the Indian frontier.

The movement of the troops to the Del Norte was made by the commanding general under
positive instructions to abstain from all aggressive acts toward Mexico or Mexican
citizens and to regard the relations between that Republic and the United States as
peaceful unless she should declare war or commit acts of hostility indicative of a state
of war. He was specially directed to protect private property and respect personal rights.

The Army moved from Corpus Christi on the 11th of March, and on the 28th of that month
arrived on the left bank of the Del Norte opposite to Matamoras, where it encamped on a
commanding position, which has since been strengthened by the erection of field works. A
depot has also been established at Point Isabel, near the Brazos Santiago, 30 miles in
rear of the encampment. The selection of his position was necessarily confided to the
judgment of the general in command.

The Mexican forces at Matamoras assumed a belligerent attitude, and on the 12th of
April General Ampudia, then in command, notified General Taylor to break up his camp
within twenty-four hours and to retire beyond the Nueces River, and in the event of his
failure to comply with these demands announced that arms, and arms alone, must decide the
question. But no open act of hostility was committed until the 14th of April. On that day
General Arista, who had succeeded to the command of the Mexican forces, communicated to
General Taylor that he considered hostilities commenced and should prosecute them. A party
of dragoons of 63 men and officers were on the same day dispatched from the American camp
up the Rio del Norte, on its left bank, to ascertain whether the Mexican troops had
crossed or were preparing to cross the river, became engaged with a large body of these
troops, and after a short affair, in which some 16 were killed and wounded, appear to have
been surrounded and compelled to surrender.

The grievous wrongs perpetrated by Mexico upon our citizens throughout a long period of
years remain unredressed, and solemn treaties pledging her public faith for this redress
have been disregarded. A government either unable or unwilling to enforce the execution of
such treaties fails to perform one of its plainest duties.

Our commerce with Mexico has been almost annihilated. It was formerly highly beneficial
to both nations, but our merchants have been deterred from prosecuting it by the system of
outrage and extortion which the Mexican authorities have pursued against them, whilst
their appeals through their own Government for indemnity have been made in vain. Our
forbearance has gone to such an extreme as to be mistaken in its character. Had we acted
with vigor in repelling the insults and redressing the injuries inflicted by Mexico at the
commencement, we should doubtless have escaped all the difficulties in which we are now
involved.

Instead of this, however, we have been exerting our best efforts to propitiate her good
will. Upon the pretext that Texas, a nation as independent as herself, thought proper to
unite its destinies with our own she has affected to believe that we have severed her
rightful territory, and in official proclamations and manifestoes has repeatedly
threatened to make war upon us for the purpose of reconquering Texas. In the meantime we
have tried every effort at reconciliation. The cup of forbearance had been exhausted even
before the recent information from the frontier of the Del Norte. But now, after
reiterated menaces, Mexico has passed the boundary of the United States, has invaded our
territory and shed American blood upon the American soil. She has proclaimed that
hostilities have commenced, and that the two nations are now at war.

As war exists, and, notwithstanding all our efforts to avoid it, exists by the act of
Mexico herself, we are called upon by every consideration of duty and patriotism to
vindicate with decision the honor, the rights, and the interests of our country.

Anticipating the possibility of a crisis like that which has arrived, instructions were
given in August last, as a precautionary measure against invasion or threatened invasion,
authorizing General Taylor, if the emergency required, to accept volunteers, not from
Texas only, but from the States of Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, and
Kentucky, and corresponding letters were addressed to the respective governors of those
States. These instructions were repeated, and in January last, soon after the
incorporation of Texas into our Union of States, General Taylor was further authorized by
the President to make a requisition upon the executive of that State for such of its
militia force as may be needed to repel invasion or to secure the country against
apprehended invasion. On the 2d day of March he was again reminded, in the event of the
approach of any considerable Mexican force, promptly and efficiently to use the authority
with which he was clothed to call to him such auxiliary force as he might need. War
actually existing and our territory having been invaded, General Taylor, pursuant to
authority vested in him by my direction, has called on the governor of Texas for four
regiments of State troops, two to be mounted and two to serve on foot, and on the governor
of Louisiana for four regiments of infantry to be sent to him as soon as practicable.

In further vindication of our rights and defense of our territory, I involve the prompt
action of Congress to recognize the existence of the war, and to place at the disposition
of the Executive the means of prosecuting the war with vigor, and thus hastening the
restoration of peace. To this end I recommend that authority should be given to call into
the public service a large body of volunteers to serve for not less than six or twelve
months unless sooner discharged. A volunteer force is beyond question more efficient than
any other description of citizen soldiers, and it is not to be doubted that a number far
beyond that required would readily rush to the field upon the call of their country. I
further recommend that a liberal provision be made for sustaining our entire military
force and furnishing it with supplies and munitions of war.

The most energetic and prompt measures and the immediate appearance in arms of a large
and overpowering force are recommended to Congress as the most certain and efficient means
of bringing the existing collision with Mexico to a speedy and successful termination.

In making these recommendations I deem it proper to declare that it is my anxious
desire not only to terminate hostilities speedily, but to bring all matters in dispute
between this Government and Mexico to an early and amicable adjustment; and in this view I
shall be prepared to renew negotiations whenever Mexico shall be ready to receive
propositions or to make propositions of her own.

I transmit herewith a copy of the correspondence between our envoy to Mexico and the
Mexican minister for foreign affairs, and so much of the correspondence between that envoy
and the Secretary of State and between the Secretary of War and the general in command on
the Del Norte as is necessary to a full understanding of the subject.